Wife of man with brain tumour who appeared on BBC’s A Time To Live reveals he has died… and why hearing his voice on the show six months later made her so proud

Carrie Holbrook found watching her husband Steve on the documentary incredibly emotional as he passed away after filming

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By Eimear O'Hagan

18th May 2017, 12:21 pm

Updated: 18th May 2017, 2:56 pm

A YOUNG widow has spoken of her pride after watching her late husband take part in a groundbreaking documentary about terminal illness.

Last night, Carrie Holbrook watched as her husband Steve, who died last November aged just 37, spoke about his battle with an aggressive brain tumour, as part of the BBC’s one-off programme A Time To Live.

Carrie Holbrook

Steve Holbrook with his wife Carrie and their children Emma, eight, and four-year-old Mason

Carrie Holbrook

Carrie's husband Steve spoke about his terminal brain tumour on A Time To Live. He passed away six months ago

“It was very surreal seeing Steve on the TV, hearing his voice again and seeing his face, six months after his death,” said Carrie, 37, who lives in Cambridgeshire with the couple’s two children Emma, eight, and Mason, four.

“It was very emotional, of course, but my overwhelming feeling was pride, that in the final months of his life he had the courage to be filmed, and speak honestly about what it’s like knowing you’re going to die.”

Steve, a police officer, was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable brain tumour in March 2015, after suffering from vision problems and headaches for almost three months.

Not known refer to copyright holder

While filming the documentary, Steve suffered his first seizure which lasted for ten minutes

Steve and Carrie are seen on the programme. During it, Steve explained how much Carrie's support meant to him and how it had helped him come to terms with his diagnosis

“Ironically, he was training for his third marathon, and incredibly fit, when he started experiencing blurred vision in January 2015. His GP referred him to an ophthalmologist, but before the appointment the headaches started.

"They were so severe, but migraine medication he was prescribed only made them worse,” said Carrie, who works for Cambridge City Council.

“In March 2015, I took him to A&E because he was in so much pain, and he was immediately sent for a CT scan which revealed there was a mass in his brain. A few hours later, an MRI showed it was a tumour.

Steve Holbrook discusses living with a terminal brain tumour on A Time Live

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Carrie Holbrook

Steve Holbrook worked as a police officer before his diagnosis and spoke movingly of how happy he was with his life

"Doctors couldn’t say at that stage if it was cancerous, or what could be done to treat it, as they needed to do more tests.”

Just over a week later, specialists delivered the devastating diagnosis. Steve’s tumour was cancerous and incurable.

"Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy would buy him time, but his condition was terminal.

“I fell apart and Steve had to support me instead of the other way around,” admits Carrie.

Carrie Holbrook

Steve felt a huge sense of relief with his kids managed to find some humour in his situation - they giggled when told his seizure had made him fall off the toilet

“To be told your husband isn’t going to grow old with you, and won’t see your children grow up, it devastated me. Steve was more positive, he was determined to fight the cancer for as long as possible.”

In April 2015 surgeons operated to remove as much of the tumour as they could, followed by a course of chemotherapy.

“We were told that Steve should get around two years before the tumour began to grow back and more treatment would be needed, maybe longer as he was young and fit,” Carrie said.

Carrie Holbrook

Steve and Carrie with their kids. Although he praised her positive attitude on the documentary, Carrie has insisted it was her husband's strength which got her through

“However, in January 2016, just a month after finishing chemotherapy, an MRI scan showed the tumour was growing again and this time in a part of the brain which made it inoperable.

"Steve was given a year to live.”

The couple, desperate for more time, met with specialists in Leeds and further afield in Holland, and Steve joined a clinical drugs trial, but tragically nothing could halt the tumour’s growth.

Carrie Holbrook

The couple were left devastated when they were told nothing more could be done for Steve

“He continued having chemotherapy but we both knew he was running out of time,” Carrie said.

Determined not to waste what time they had left together, Steve and Carrie resolved to live life to the fullest, taking Emma and Mason to Disneyland Paris and defying doctors' orders to fly to Iceland for a weekend together.

12 people discuss living with a terminal diagnosis on BBC show A Time To Live

“Steve wanted to make memories while he still could, and cram in as much as possible.

"We also enjoyed just leading a normal life too. He carried on working until September 2016, we had family meals around the kitchen table, and did the school run. They were just ordinary things, but they became extra special.”

Carrie Holbrook

Steve and Carrie decided to make life as normal as possible for their children, while still building precious memories together

After fundraising and campaigning for the charity Brain Tumour Research, Steve was approached last summer by award winning film maker Sue Bourne, and invited to be a part of A Time To Live, a documentary about living with a terminal diagnosis.

“I was worried that two days of filming, and talking so openly at such a vulnerable time, could be too much for him,” says Carrie.

“But I also knew that Steve found it really therapeutic to talk about what he was going through, and I believed it would be cathartic for him.

Carrie Holbrook

Although Carrie was fiercely proud when she saw Steve on the documentary, initially she was concerned it would be too much for him

“It was also another way for him to leave behind memories for the kids, so one day they could watch the film and see their daddy, and hear how he coped.

“They had professional pre-bereavement counselling before he died, but it’s still so hard for such young children to understand what’s happened.”

Carrie Holbrook

Carrie is now involved in charity work and is raising money in her husband Steve's memory

Steve passed away on November 30, 2016, and this week marks what would have been his and Carrie’s 12-year wedding anniversary.

“I miss Steve every day and watching him on TV last night, it took me back to my last days with him last year. It feels like yesterday, not six months ago.

“He was determined to leave a legacy, and I take so much comfort from knowing he achieved that, both through his charity fundraising and awareness raising, and also through this film.

“Emma and Mason are still too young to watch it, but when they’re old enough I’ll show it to them, so they can see how brave their daddy was, and how he lived every moment to the full, even when he was dying.”